Chapter 13: The Dragon Rider

Yesterday had been needlessly confusing. Sen was taking a day off, from everything. Ada was still recovering from her fight with Sorikami, and Suda was trying to think of a way explain everything that had happened last night to Nura, leaving Sen alone. That was fine with him. He had a lot of thinking to do.

He wasn't sure if he would go back to Hayao's island, or if he would even be welcome there. It was hard to imagine Miyani being happy to see him after what he'd said to her. She'd punched him in the face, after all. That was a pretty universal sign for "I don't like you".

Sen was sitting on a rocky cliff, looking out at the volcanic island from a great distance. Gun sat beside him. They were far enough away from Gai Zhu that no one would see the badgermole, and Sen hadn't spent enough time with his animal guide lately. It was nice to spend time with Gun; he was simple. As long as he had food and Sen, Gun was perfectly content. People had a bunch of issues and complexities that caused confusion, but animals were simple.

Gun tapped his claws against the rocky stone. He didn't really like living in the Fire Nation. The soil was too rocky for his tastes, harder to tunnel through, and it had fewer subterranean creatures for him to eat. He missed the loose soil of the Earth nation. Sen was here, though, so this was where Gun belonged.

Gun sighed and pressed his head against Sen's arm. Sen patted the badgermole on the head and continued examining the skyline. He wished Gun wasn't blind. It would have been nice to share the view, but Gun could only see through the ground. He had no idea the sky even existed.

Sunrise was well behind them now, so the sky wasn't quite as beautiful anymore, but it was still nice to look at. Seahawks spiraled around the cliffs, hunting for fish in the waters below. Every now and then one dived beneath the water to grab its prey. It was interesting to watch the birds dive.

The horizon seemed much wider here than it ever had in the United Earth Kingdoms. There were no hills or mountains blocking the view, so you could see for miles in every direction. Most of what you could see was only blue ocean, though. Occasionally an island would appear, or a bird would spiral over the horizon. Right now there was a black speck drifting slowly across the sky.

Sen's heart stopped briefly. Gun noticed the sudden change and looked around in a panic. Sen got up and started sprinting back towards town. The last time he'd seen something like that black mark in the sky had been at Tunuk Bay. The Energybender's zeppelin.

The Avatarmobile had been gathering dust in a garage for many months now, which was why Ada was so surprised to see Sen suddenly rip open the doors and started tearing through the storage containers. He tossed aside the smoke canister, the platinum-plated stones, and Ada's secret tool, looking for something in a panic. Ada quickly and carefully retrieved her unique item and packed it away safely before asking the question on her mind.

"Sen, what's going on?"

"There's something in the sky," Sen said. Ada didn't waste time panicking. Using her uninjured arm, she pushed Sen aside, grabbed a pair of binoculars from the supply boxes, and looked up at the sky where Sen pointed. She quickly breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's not a zeppelin," She said. Sen finally relaxed. He had been so terrified that the Energybender might have caught up with them. He didn't need that stress on top of everything else.

Ada refocused the binoculars and looked back to the sky. Whatever was flying around up there definitely wasn't a zeppelin or any other aircraft, but it wasn't a common bird either. Ada wondered if it was a Sky Bison. She took a closer look, and found a surprise.

"Sen, that's a dragon!"

She handed over the binoculars, and Sen looked into the sky. Sure enough, a serpentine dragon was winding its way through the sky. A rider was just barely visible on its back.

Suda, who had heard the word dragon, quickly came running to take a look. Sen barely had time to hand over the binoculars before Suda ripped them out of his hands. Suda scanned the sky and let out a quiet gasp of excitement.

"Wow, a real dragon! There's only like thirty of those in the whole world."

Dragons had been making a resurgence since being hunted nearly to extinction during the Hundred-Year war, but they were slow breeders. Unlike the Sky Bison, which bred in litters and grew very quickly, dragons were rather finicky breeders. They rarely mated and their eggs took a very long time to hatch. Their population had been rising steadily, but very slowly.

"What's a dragon doing all the way out here?"

"Just guess," Sen said. He pointed lazily as the dragon began to soar downwards towards Hayao's island.

Zorotl guided his dragon carefully into the fogbank of Hayao's secluded island. Kalatal hated flying through the fog, but the dragon was familiar with the island. He had been here often, on Zorotl's yearly visits.

The massive red serpent landed in front of the cavern entrance, his mighty wings temporarily clearing away the fog. Zorotl scanned the surroundings for a moment. While he was happy to visit his former master, there were other, less pleasant individuals on the island. Satisfied that the coast was clear, Zorotl picked up his pack and proceeded into the cave.

"Greetings, master," Zorotl said with a bow. Hayao was sitting right where Zorotl had last seen him a year ago, and the year before that, and the year before, going back about twenty-three years. Long ago Zorotl had been cast out from the Sun Warriors for his pride and violent temper, but thanks to Hayao's teachings, Zorotl had been welcomed back to his people, and had even come to be a dragon master. The only thing Hayao demanded in payment was that Zorotl return once a year to refresh the circle of candles around Hayao's pedestal.

Zorotl went to work scraping up the melted wax and replacing the candles. Hayao was motionless and silent during most of this process, but he spoke towards the very end.

"I have an additional request of you this year, Zorotl," Hayao said.

"Anything you say, master," Zorotl said. He would do anything Hayao asked, but he hoped that Hayao would not ask him for a certain favor.

"I want you to take someone back to the Dragon Roost," Hayao declared.

Zorotl had been hoping for anything but that. He shook his head.

"I'll take her if you want, but you know she isn't welcome," He said sadly.

"Miyani is not who I speak of," Hayao scolded. Zorotl stepped back. "Your exile has retreated into solitary meditation for now. You are to go the mainland, and look for a boy named Sen."

He had intended for Miyani and Sen to travel to the Dragon's island together, but the two had apparently gone through a falling-out, and it would not do to force them back together. Hopefully Sen could learn what he needed on his own.

"Can I ask why?"

"He has something to learn from the residents of the island," Hayao commanded, and then he was silent. Zorotl finished his work with the candles and returned to Kalatal. The dragon was excited to leave the fog, but confused to see that they were heading for the mainland instead of back home.

Landing in Gai Zhu was more of a pain than it was worth. It was impossible to hide a dragon in a city like this, and a massive crowd gathered. Luckily Kalatal's ferocious growls were enough to scare off the civilians, and nobody tried to touch him. Kalatal didn't like to be touched, and Zorotl was worried he'd bite someone in half if they were dumb enough to try.

Zorotl reluctantly left the dragon behind as he searched for the boy named Sen. It was hard to get information from anyone. The Sun Warriors had technically come out of seclusion to help rekindle the dragon population, but most people had still never seen one. Many of the civilians of Gai Zhu were too busy staring at Zorotl's outlandish clothes to actually help him. After an inordinately long search, he was directed to a house on the outskirts of town.

Agents Luan and Zouf regarded the Sun Warrior with no small amount of confusion. The Avatar seemed to be attracting all kinds of strange attention. The Sun Warriors could be trusted, though, so they didn't interfere with Zorotl's mission, whatever it was.

Suda was suitably confused upon opening the door to a strangely dressed man with red tattoos all over his body. Zorotl introduced himself politely and then got to business, asking if he could speak with Sen. Suda awkwardly called Sen to the door. The young Avatar was just as surprised to see the stranger at their door. Even Ada, who actually knew about the Sun Warriors, was surprised to see one at their door.

"You're Sen, yeah? You're familiar with Hayao?"

"I guess I'm a student of his…technically," Sen said. It was a complex situation right now.

"He asked me to take you somewhere," Zorotl said. It was probably better to not say they were going to the Dragon Roost while the others were around.

"Where are we going?"

"Trust me, you'll enjoy it," Zorotl said. He really didn't want to say anything about the dragons. Suda looked like the "eager" type, and then he'd ask to go along.

"I'm done being pushed around by Hayao," Sen said, frustrated. "Either tell me where we're going or I'm staying here."

Zorotl rolled his eyes and asked if they could speak in private. Suda and Ada reluctantly retreated.

"Hayao said I should take you to Dragon Roost island. He says you have something to learn there."

Sen was quite shocked to hear that. He had seen the dragon flying towards Hayao's island this morning, but he hadn't thought Zorotl would be the rider. The idea of visiting the Dragon's island appealed to him on a basic level. Dragons were the original firebenders, after all. Sen had learned the seismic sense by mimicking Gun, a primeval earthbender. Imagine what he could learn from dragons.

Sen said a hasty goodbye to his friends and followed Zorotl across town. Hopefully this would be a pleasant diversion from the problems of yesterday. He could distract himself from the issues of Sorikami and Hayao and Miyani with dragons.

He had been expecting to see a dragon for a while, but Sen was still shocked to lay eyes on Kalatal. The dragon was absolutely massive, even larger than Gun. The dragons titanic wingspan blacked out the sun.

Zorotl unceremoniously threw a sack over Sen's head like a hood.

"So no one wonders why you're riding a dragon," he explained. Sen reluctantly agreed. He'd already gotten too much attention for having been involved with Sorikami the past night. The less people knew he was here, the better. Sen wrapped the fabric around himself and proceeded towards the dragon.

"Now be careful. Kalatal's unfriendly, even by dragon standards."

Kalatals piercing eyes gazed intently at Sen for a brief moment. This was usually the part where Kalatal threatened to roast anyone who approached him. To Zorotl's surprise, Kalatal calmly allowed Sen to approach. That didn't happen often.

Zorotl instructed Sen how to climb onto the dragons back, and then the two of them set off. Sen did not enjoy flying as much as he thought he would. Looking down at the ground, miles beneath him, filled Sen with absolute terror. He missed the feeling of earth beneath his feet. Sen pressed his face against the dragons scales and held on tight for a few hours, until he heard wings stop flapping.

Zorotl helped a still very nervous Sen dismount Kalatal. The Avatar was glad to have solid stone beneath his feet again. He was not looking forward to doing that again.

Kalatal soared away, and Sen watched him go. The mighty red dragon soared across the strange island towards a stone cavern. He roared loudly into the cavern, and another dragon responded. Kalatal disappeared into the stone maw.

"His mate," Zorotl explained. "One of only two living things in the world Kalatal doesn't try to fight, the other being me."

Zorotl had seen four, technically, but Sen didn't need to know that he had humbled a raging dragon, and the less people knew about the fourth person, the better.

"Now, I'll show you around," Zorotl said. He pointed towards the rocky peaks of the island. "This is Dragon Roost island, as you may have guessed. It is where we rebuild the dragon population. The peaks you see here are the living areas."

Zorotl pointed downwards, and began walking that way. Sen followed.

"Down at the base of this hill, we have the hatchery. There's a few eggs being tended at the moment. We usually don't have guests, but I guess you're an exception."

They walked through a tangle of thick jungle trees. Underneath the leafy canopy was a large stone courtyard. Several eggs were placed on rocky podiums, being watched over by small groups of Sun Warriors and carefully observed by dragon mothers. In the distance, pyramids emerged from the treetops and soared towards the sun. The Sun Warriors had rebuilt their ancient cities after leaving their self-imposed seclusion, and their cities had quickly regained their former glory. All of the Sun Warriors in the courtyard immediately looked towards the outsider in their midst. Though the Sun Warriors had gone public, they were still wary of outsiders.

"My people! This is Sen, a chosen guest of Master Hayao. He has come to learn from us!"

The name Hayao seemed to inspire equal parts admiration and suspicion from the dragon caretakers. Sen was welcomed, but not warmly. The dragons seemed to care the least, returning to their vigil over the eggs as soon as they ascertained Sen was not a threat. Sen was glad of that. He could handle suspicion from people, but he didn't want to be on the wrong side of dragons.

Zorotl led the way to a nearby podium. The Sun Warriors parted to allow Sen to get slightly closer to the egg. He was watched carefully by the tribe, every move he made cast under suspicion.

"This one ought to be hatching in a month or two," Zorotl said. A circle of firebenders were gently using their art to keep the egg warm. "After that it'll be a matter of finding a caretaker. Maybe you could give it a try. The dragons seem to accept you."

The dragon mother overlooking her egg was unmindful of Sen's presence, which was suspicious in a way. Dragons were not inherently trusting creatures, especially when it came to their eggs. A stranger being ignored so quickly was not common. The dragons should at least be casting Sen a wary eye, yet they seemed to at least disregard him, if not trust him.

"I don't think so," Sen said. He could never replace Gun, not even with a dragon. A badgermole was the only companion he needed. Sen had no desire to fly again anyway.

"Well, if you say so," Zorotl said. The invitation had mostly been a formality anyway. The Sun Warriors were not eager to hand over their dragons to an outsider. Their last experience with taking in an outsider had ended poorly.

Zorotl led Sen away from the hatchery and towards a vast open expanse. This was where the Sun Warriors trained their young warriors. A massive stone field was filled with dozens of youths, overseen by instructors both human and draconic. In smaller areas outside the main training field, three juvenile dragons trained with their partners. Sen was led to the main area, and Zorotl called over one of the watching dragons.

"Well, Hayao wants you to learn from these guys, so lets get to it," Zorotl said. At a signal from Zorotl, the blue dragon began to spiral around Sen in an intricate pattern. Sen was a quick study, and he began to replicate the dragons motions. The dragon began to breathe controlled spurts of fire as he flew, and Sen matched the bursts. Zorotl nodded approvingly. He gave another signal, and the dragon shifted to a different form.

Sen spent an hour repeating the varied motions of the dragons, quickly matching their actions. The way they behaved was nothing like Miyani's attempts at firebending. They weren't better, necessarily, but they were different, more organic. Miyani's lessons had taught Sen to build energy within himself and then release it in bursts. The dragon style of firebending involved a more natural flow of energy, drawing on heat and releasing it in a fluid motion.

"You learn fast," Zorotl observed. Sen didn't admit it, but he was cheating a little bit. His ability to read chakras apparently applied to dragons as well as people. He could easily see the way the fire was shifting through their bodies and duplicate that flow.

"Let's get you some one on one. You have to use the fire, not just be able to make it. Who wants to spar with the outsider?"

There was only one volunteer among the teenaged Sun Warriors. Zorotl called the boy forward. He seemed to be about Sen's age, though his Sun Warrior clothing and tattoos meant they looked nothing alike.

"Hi there," The young warrior said cheerily. "I'm Rohtan."

"I'm Sen. Nice to meet you."

Rohtan and Sen shook hands, but Zorotl quickly pushed them apart.

"You aren't here to make friends, you're here to pretend to kill each other," Zorotl half-joked. He didn't want Rohtan getting too friendly with an outsider. "Now get started on the make-believe murder."

Rohtan smiled brightly and then began to launch a salvo of lethal attacks at Sen. He'd never really sparred with Miyani, or anyone else, before, so the attack caught him off guard. He spun his hands in a circular motion and dispersed the flames, negating the attack. Rohtan didn't hesitate to launch a follow up attack, a spiraling line of flame that came at Sen from unexpected angles. Sen was kept moving, forced to constantly retreat from Rohtan's relentless attacks.

Eventually, Sen got in a good position for a counterattack. He recalled how dragons were always swooping as they had demonstrated their skills, and put that into practice. As he dodged one of Rohtan attacks, he lunged forward and retaliated with an attack of his own. The ferocious counterattack gave Sen some time to plant his feet.

Although he was dedicated to firebending at the moment, Sen was still an earthbender at heart. He was best suited to a steady, stable stance, keeping his feet firmly on the ground. With time to get into position, he was able to bend more naturally, and the sparring match became more even. Rohtan and Sen traded attacks fairly, neither of them really gaining ground or losing it. Rohtan seemed to be enjoying himself, but Sen was taking this a little more seriously.

He had probably completely ruined any chance of continuing training with Miyani by now, so it was important for him to learn as much as he could from the Sun Warriors. Hopefully he'd be taught enough that he could move on to Air. He had been in the Fire Nation for several months now. It was nearly time for him to move on, lest the Energybender catch his trail.

Briefly distracted by thoughts of his future, Sen reacted too slowly to one of Rohtan's attacks, and he was forced to take a step backwards. Thinking quickly, Sen retaliated, not with the techniques he'd learned from the dragons, but from Miyani. He took a deep breath, felt the heat build up within his body, and then released it in a powerful burst of flame. Rohtan was forced backwards, and Sen pressed forward. His advance was quickly halted by a furious looking Zorotl.

"What are you doing?"

"We were sparring," Rohtan explained sarcastically. He didn't like being interrupted. The match had just been getting fun.

"Shut up, boy," Zorotl said dismissively. "You, Sen. Where did you learn to bend like that?"

"From my master," Sen said.

"Hayao? Hayao taught you to bend like that?"

"No, not from him. It was another one of Hayao's students. A girl named Miyani."

Zorotl's eyes narrowed. He should have known Hayao would pull something like this. Sen and Rohtan were confused. Sen had no idea how Miyani was connected to the Sun Warriors, and Rohtan had no idea who Miyani was at all.

"I don't get it. Did I do something wrong?"

"Yes. That's unnatural," Zorotl said.

"No it isn't," Rohtan objected. "The dragons know when someone's bending wrong. They didn't care at all."

The training dragons were maintaining a silent vigil over the situation. They had an innate ability to sense flaws in technique, particularly permutations like rage-based fire. They hadn't reacted at all to Sen's last display of bending. It wasn't a common technique, but it wasn't unnatural either.

"Look, you don't know what you're talking about," Zorotl said to Rohtan. He tried to push the young warrior out of the conversation, but Rohtan held his ground.

"How do you know Miyani anyway," Sen asked. Zorotl looked around. Several of the other trainees had gathered around them. The watchful eyes of the dragons bored into Zorotl. The Sun Warriors had a philosophy, that if you would not speak the truth before a dragon, you were a coward. Zorotl would not be called a coward.

"She lived among us once, a long time ago," Zorotl explained. "She was orphaned in the Seventh Kingdom war, and she was brought to us. But Miyani is not the kind of person we could have amongst ourselves. She was exiled. We sent her to Master Hayao."

Sen did the math in his head. He didn't like the results. Miyani was eighteen, and she had said she'd been with Hayao for ten years.

"You exiled an eight year old girl," Sen said in disgust. While he had not exactly treated Miyani well, he had at least waited until she was nearly an adult to do so. Treating a young child so harshly was deplorable.

Zorotl was getting dirty looks from the Sun Warrior trainees. The adult trainers understood the situation, and they took Zorotl's side.

"What could an eight year old do to earn an exile?"

Rohtan was standing at the head of the angry teenagers now. Zorotl had to defuse this situation. Sen was the catalyst, so removing him should help. Zorotl whistled loudly. From across the island, Kalatal heard his masters call and came soaring to the field.

"This discussion doesn't concern you children," Zorotl said to Rohtan and the other bystanders. "Sen and I will continue this in private."

Kalatal landed with a heavy rush of air, and Zorotl bid Sen to mount the dragon. Before he left, Rohtan grabbed Sen by the shoulder and gave him a half-hearted smile. They barely knew each other, but Sen did admire the way Rohtan had fought, and the way he'd stood up to Zorotl. Hopefully one day they would get a chance to know each other better.

Sen climbed onto Kalatal's back, and Zorotl took off. After a brief flight, they landed atop a mountaintop some distance from the training ground. Sen gladly hopped off the back of the dragon. It was still a frightful experience, riding the dragon, but he was not going to be distracted that easily.

"Now, I've got the same question as Rohtan," Sen said. "What did Miyani do?"

Zorotl looked towards the land stretched out below. He leaned against Kalatal's scaled shoulder.

"You don't already know?"

"No," Sen said angrily. "She doesn't trust anyone. I'm starting to see why."

"It's not about what she did," Zorotl said. "It's just what she is. We can't have her kind around us, around our dragons."

"What kind? Outsiders? I don't get it."

Zorotl looked at Sen suspiciously. Eventually that suspicion dropped from his face, replaced with resignation.

"Yes, outsiders," He said. He wasn't telling the truth. "I only brought you here as a favor to Hayao. We don't like your kind."

Sen knew that wasn't completely true. They had not really been welcoming of Sen, except for Rohtan, but they weren't completely xenophobic. It was something about Miyani specifically, not outsiders in general.

"Why are you so afraid of Miyani? Now you're trying to get rid of me just because of her."

Sen could see in Zorotl the same kind of fear that he'd felt in Sorikami. It was a paranoia, based on some kind of past experience. Something about Miyani scared Zorotl, but what? Sen found her frustrating, not threatening. What had Zorotl seen in an eight year old child that scared him so much?

Sen sighed. He could remember being eight years old. It was one of his first memories of his dull time at Beaker Hall, before meeting Hanjo. When he'd been eight, the orphanage had been attacked for the first time. Someone had hurled rocks through the windows late at night, striking Sen. He could remember all the fear and confusion, wondering why someone would attack him when he hadn't done anything wrong.

"Forget it. Take me to Hayao's island," Sen said to Zorotl. It wasn't a significant change of course, but it surprised Zorotl.

Sen felt guilty. He wished just for once he could figure out his own problems, instead of having to see them reflected in someone else first.

All the things he'd been so angry about in the past two days had just been some kind of cruel parallel with his own life. He'd been angry at Miyani for letting Hayao control her because he'd been doing the same thing. He had been letting Hanjo or Suda or Ada make all the decisions for him instead of taking charge. There was nothing wrong with trusting other people, but when you started to use them as a crutch, it became unhealthy. That was why losing Hanjo had hurt so much. Sen had relied too heavily on his friend. With Hanjo gone, he had lost direction, because he had no direction of his own. He had snapped at Miyani because he saw in her the same mistakes he was making. He had hated her, because he saw everything he hated about himself in her.

Recognizing those problems wasn't enough. Sen had to do something to fix them.

It was a nerve-wracking ride to the island, mostly because of Sen's distaste for flight, and partly because he was worried about what he would say to Miyani. He had Kalatal land on the rim of the volcanic caldera. He had a feeling he knew where to find Miyani. Zorotl bid a hasty goodbye and retreated from the island quickly. Sen proceeded into the heart of the volcanic crater.

Miyani was at the center, exactly where they had begun their firebending training months ago. She was quite deliberately ignoring Sen. He could feel confusion boiling inside her, tearing at her mind. Sen sat down in front of her and thought about his words for a while.

"I visited the Sun Warriors today," He began. "I was almost winning a duel because of what you taught me. I think I would've had it, but I got interrupted."

Miyani kept her eyes closed, trapping herself in her meditation. The two of them had almost been friends, before all the confusion. Sen hoped they could get back to that place.

"I'm sorry about what they did to you, and what I did to you. It was wrong. I understand why you want to live your life this way, letting other people make your choices for you. I really do. I've been doing the same thing. When I called you a coward…I was talking about myself as much as you. That's why I was so upset. I'm sorry."

That had been the easiest thing to say. The hard part was coming up next, and how Miyani reacted would decide whether they could ever look each other in the eye again.

"I understand why you're acting this way, but it's still wrong. It was wrong when I did it, and it's wrong for you too. You- We are avoiding all the bad things, but we're missing out on the good things too."

Miyani pretended not to hear his words, but Sen could feel her heartbeat shift. She was definitely listening.

"I spent so many years hiding, refusing to have my own identity, because I thought I could avoid all the confusion. But I didn't. The only thing I was missing out on was being happy. It wasn't until I decided to be decisive, be brave, that I met my best friend."

Miyani finally opened her eyes, though she was still deliberately avoiding looking at Sen.

"I know I lost him…But the few months I spent with Hanjo were better than a decade of hiding. So I'm going to keep being my own person, making my own decisions. I want you to do the same. So, here's a choice. I want to stay and help you, and to have you help me. But, if you don't want that, just tell me, and I'll leave. It's up to you."

Sen bowed his head and awaited Miyani's answer. It took a long time to come.

After a long and worryingly quiet delay, Miyani rested her head in her hands and finally looked Sen in the eyes. She seemed angry, yet resigned, like she had an itch on her back she couldn't reach.

"So if I ask you to stay, what happens next?"

Sen stared forward intently. Miyani watched him closely. After a few minutes he started to sweat visibly.

"You have no idea," Miyani said, actually sounding a little amused.

"I'm thinking," Sen said nervously. He held up his hands in a stalling gesture. Miyani actually smiled. Sen hadn't seen her smile before. The faint scars on her cheeks curved gently as her face shifted into the unfamiliar expression.

"We'll figure something out," She said.